In Louisiana, Maryland and North Dakota, unemployment is at record lows
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In Louisiana, Maryland and North Dakota, unemployment is at record lows
The nation’s job market isn’t showing much sign of cooling down. New applications for unemployment insurance, for example, ticked up ever so slightly this week to 204,000.
Three very different places — Louisiana, Maryland and North Dakota — have demonstrated particular strength in demand for workers. They’ve set records for the lowest jobless rates since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started compiling that data in the 1970s.
In Maryland, the first stop on our low unemployment tour, the rate is 1.7%. Joe Gonzales with talent firm Robert Half said that to attract talent, firms there are leaning into perks like remote work and flexible hours.
“I think people are just starting to listen to what’s really important to their current employees as well as future potential hires,” he said.
Eli Allen at the nonprofit Civic Works said the low-wage workers he trains for construction careers have potential employers lining up to meet them.
“We’ve had the benefit now of having a lot of employers apply to join our, our program and being able to screen those employers and ensure that we’re focusing on working with companies that are committed to paying good wages,” he said.
But day laborers aren’t reaping the same benefits, said Lindolfo Carballo with the advocacy group CASA.
“They are the ones that are less protected,” he said. “Workers have even been threatened by employers saying, ‘I’m gonna pay you this, but if you ask for more, I’m gonna call immigration.'”
More than 1,300 miles away in Fargo, North Dakota, the unemployment rate is 1.9%. Economist Thomas Krumel of North Dakota State University said the job market has been good for workers — especially his agricultural economics students.
“The econ student, as an example, was getting a $70,000-a-year salary on average,” he said.
There’s also a huge crunch in service jobs. He said many restaurants in Fargo don’t open Sundays or Mondays because there’s a shortage of workers.
It’s a similar story in Louisiana, where just 3.3% are out of work.
“Employers are having to start thinking about where do we find kind of pockets of talent that we didn’t normally need to recruit from,” said Andrew Fitzgerald with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber.
Employers are more open to hiring teens and people who were previously incarcerated, he added.
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